They Were Family
by Dracavia
Summary: Four times Bruce Banner and Pepper Potts turned Tony Stark's world on its head. The last time he didn't need to resort to scotch to get through it.


**Gift for:** Wolfling  
**Rating:** PG (for mentions of a bit of drinking to excess)  
**Series/Fandom:** Avengers MCU  
**Pairing/Characters:** Tony-centric, past-Tony/Pepper, present-Bruce/Pepper, Tony+Bruce+Pepper friendship  
**Word Count:** 2935  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Avengers characters, and sadly don't make a dime off any of them or their shenanigans. I'm just trotting them out for the amusement of myself and others (hopefully).  
**Warnings:** Don't think there are any really.  
**Authour's notes:** So I'd originally intended this to fill the Bruce/Tony/Pepper part of Wolfling's prompt for Avengersfest, preferably with some smut, and what the bunnies gave me instead was Tony+Pepper+Bruce schmoop. Unfortunately that meant the mods didn't feel it met the criteria sufficiently for the prompt to include it in the fest, which is what lead me to write _Never Would Have Pictured It_. I think I got a few of the other parts of the prompt spot on though, and since this was written with you in mind, Wolfling, this is my Christmas gift to you. I hope you'll enjoy this at least as much as I enjoyed writing it.  
**Betas:** Thanks go to Corcalamus for being an awesome sounding board while I was writing this (as usual!) and to Sigridhr for her wonderful beta job. Any errors that might persist are all my own doing.

* * *

Tony stared at Bruce and Pepper. He should have seen this coming. Well, actually, he had seen it coming, but there was a difference between knowing something and _knowing_ it. The last few years had been building towards this, and yet...

Right, maybe if he thought it all through from the beginning, what they had just said would sink in without feeling like his world was turning on its head.

So when had it started? Well, he supposed that was an easy one, it started when he met Bruce during the the Avengers' first mission. Except that wasn't really it, because he and Bruce had become friends then, bonding over their shared love of science and techno-babble. He'd given Bruce a job after the invasion was averted, and an apartment below his own in the tower so SHIELD would lay off about keeping him under watch. But things hadn't changed then, not really. Yeah, he'd gotten a new friend from the deal, better than he'd expected, right up there with Rhodey and Pepper (except without the sex), but mostly things were the same.

No, it really began with the second invasion attempt a year later. Not the invasion itself, mind you, that went surprisingly well. Surprising considering Thanos was this giant bent on destroying all known life in the universe, and Loki had reappeared from wherever it was he'd escaped to 6 months before, but to _help_ them this time. In fact, if it hadn't been for Loki, Thanos probably would have gotten the infinity gauntlet and they'd all be dead now. He'd provided the diversion that had been instrumental in allowing them to go through the portal to Thanos' compound and blow it up with him in it. But that wasn't the important thing. The important thing was that Tony had almost died. Again.

He'd been the furthest from the portal when the bomb went off and started destabilizing it. Tony was only a few seconds behind the others, but a few seconds would have been enough to get him stuck there or, maybe worse yet, caught in the portal as it destabilized. Would have been, if it wasn't for Bruce. He'd stayed behind with Selvig to help monitor the portal and keep up a line of communication between Loki and the Avengers. It was Bruce who'd figured out how to amplify the power to the portal just enough, just in time, for Tony to get through.

So that was twice he'd saved Tony's life, and if he didn't already consider Bruce family by then, he certainly did after. That wasn't what changed things though, well it was, but it wasn't. What really changed it all was hearing Pepper utter the words "Tony, I want a baby."

He'd expected the second near-death experience to rattle Pepper, but that had _not_ been the reaction he'd expected. He'd supposed it made sense from her point of view, and he could understand her reasons as she'd laid them out. They'd been a couple for nearly two years by then, and even though she was younger than him, it wasn't like she was twenty-something anymore. She wanted a chance for a baby, for a family, before they lost it. Before she was too old to be a mother, or he... Well could they count on his luck to hold every time the odds were against him?

The problem was, Tony wasn't 'that guy'. Tony Stark didn't marry, settle down and have kids. There was always going to be Iron Man, until he physically couldn't wear the suit anymore, and there were always going to be reckless stunts, in and out of the suit. Any kid of his was as likely as not to be told someday 'Sorry, Daddy's not coming home again because he got blown up,' and he couldn't do that, he just couldn't.

So he'd broken up with Pepper, because he couldn't give her what she wanted, and she deserved to have it. And maybe if he forced her away, she'd realise that there were better men than him out there to give her that dream, and maybe she'd look back some day and thank him for pushing her towards it, instead of hating him for keeping her by his side and denying her something he could see in her eyes that she wanted more than she'd ever realised she wanted it before.

It was Bruce who stayed with him that night. Bruce, who never drank more than a beer or two at a time because of The Other Guy, who kept him company through 8 hours and two bottles of scotch as Tony mourned the loss of possibly the best thing in his life besides being Iron Man. While he mourned the loss of Pepper in his life, because try as he did to convince her, Pepper wouldn't stay at the company, even as something other than his assistant. She'd said if she had to walk into that building every day and remember what had happened, she'd hate him, and that was what he was trying to avoid, so he let her go.

Then it was four months later, and he hadn't heard from Pepper in all that time. What he knew came from Natasha, because they still went out for drinks sometimes, and she took enough pity on him to tell him the things that were public knowledge. Pepper had been snatched up by one of the senior partners of some prestigious Manhattan law firm, and maybe she wasn't making _quite_ as much as she had with Tony, but she also had a lot more time to herself. Time to start dating again...

Natasha didn't tell him much after the dating started, he'd figured she was trying to spare his feelings. Then Bruce had come to him, and he knew the truth. Clint had pulled him along to a dinner out with Pepper and Natasha because he didn't want to be alone with his girlfriend and her gal-pal for a whole evening, and... well, they'd hit it off. They'd never really spent any time together before without Tony being there as well, and that night had led to one date, which had led to two... They were officially seeing each other now, and Bruce had thought Tony should hear it from him first.

Rhodey was the one that kept him company through two bottles of scotch that night, and stopped him from starting on the third.

The thing was, at first Tony couldn't figure out what upset him the most about Bruce's news. After all, wasn't it supposed to be 'bros before hoes'? Except Pepper had never been a 'hoe', and this had been what Tony had wanted for her, wasn't it? Bruce _was_ 'that guy'. Smart and funny, but also down-to-Earth in a way Tony could never be, and as long as The Other Guy was around he was always going to come home. So was it that he'd definitely lost Pepper now that she'd finally moved on? Or was it that he'd lost one of his best friends to his ex?

He'd found his answer in the bottom of that second bottle, as Rhodey pulled the third one away from him. It was that he'd lost them both to each other. He loved Rhodey like a brother, but he'd never had many close friends, and there he was down from 3 to 1 in only four months. It was enough to drive anyone to drink, not just borderline alcoholics like him.

Except, he didn't lose them.

Bruce was still around, still did 'guys night' every other month with him and Rhodey and Clint, and sometimes Cap. Still attended Tony's monthly poker night with the other R&D department heads, which was always more about brainstorming new ideas than poker anyway. Still brought the occasional pizza up to Tony's workshop when he knew the engineer had been holed up for the better part of two days on some new project.

Not only that, but Pepper was back as well. She was there at Natasha's dinner parties – which were really just her excuse to make the Avengers and their significant others partake in her almost bizarre fondness for boardgames – and she was by Bruce's side at official company functions. It was awkward at first, until they found their feet again, because all three of them knew there were still feelings there, feelings that might never completely go away. But they all also knew that Tony wasn't going to try to get Pepper back, and that she wouldn't go back even if he did. Too much water had passed under that bridge, and in the long run this was better for all of them.

He and Pepper, they were like a match, a bright flare that burned in your retinas and you could see it long after its brief life had stuttered out. Bruce and Pepper though, they were like the fire set in the hearth. Maybe it didn't flare quite so brightly, but it reached into the dark places and warmed you through, the kind of light and warmth that would last.

And they did last, like he knew they would from the beginning. So it was no surprise when they told him 6 months later that they were going to get married, and would he do them the honour of being their best-man? Of course he smiled brightly and told them it'd be his pleasure, and then he went home and drank only one bottle of scotch this time, because it was as much a toast to their happiness as a mourning of his own. And when JARVIS decided to accompany the end of the bottle with the Best of AC/DC and Black Sabbath, Tony hauled himself up and went to his workshop, because burying himself in his work had always been the more productive way to brood anyway.

Tony had made sure he was the best best-man anyone could ever ask for. He'd thrown them an engagement party with the best of everything, he'd coordinated Bruce's bachelor night with Natasha's plans for Pepper's bachelorette, he'd even managed to strike the tasteful balance between strippers and... well, none. The Rockettes had legs that went on for miles which made the guys happy, and it still counted as 'theater' which made Pepper happy, and then of course there was the private room booked afterward at Bruce's favourite bar and grill, where the music was just to his taste, and you couldn't get a better steak this side of Brooklyn.

He'd written a speech for the reception that brought laughter and tears to the eyes of those assembled, not the least of which were Pepper's own. When she hugged him afterward, he'd held her tightly and told her how he'd always known she'd be the most beautiful bride in the world, and then he'd kissed her brow and passed her gently back to Bruce's arms where she belonged.

That was almost two years ago now, and he'd been to the Banner-Potts brownstone for dinner too many times to count since then. Life had settled into something comfortable once more, and there were no more surprises to upset the balance that they'd found.

Except, now suddenly there was, not that it should have been a surprise. If he'd thought about it properly, he'd have expected Bruce and Pepper to start trying for kids almost as soon as they'd married. It made sense when he thought about it all in order like that. It was things coming full circle again, like they always do.

The looks of guarded hope on Bruce and Pepper's faces had turned to ones of concern. He must have been lost in his thoughts for too long. That wouldn't do, couldn't have them doubting his happiness for them just because he hadn't been prepared for the obvious.

Tony plastered a smile on his face, "So was dinner tonight to tell me I'm going to be an uncle? When's the kid coming, so I can plan all the ways I'm going to spoil them. Be aware that if my services are ever employed as a baby-sitter, I fully intend to return them to you high on sugar."

Pepper and Bruce exchanged a look and this time it was Tony's turn to frown.

"What? Please don't tell me you've decided I won't meet them until they're a teenager. I won't mess them up _that_badly," Tony said defensively.

"This was a bad idea," Pepper said quietly, not meeting Tony's gaze and looking instead back to Bruce. "I never should have suggested it."

"No it wasn't. We've already discussed this, now it's time to let him decide," was Bruce's calm response. At a small nod from Pepper, he looked back at Tony. "There is no baby yet, won't be for the time being."

He gave Tony a wry smile as he continued. "I'm shooting blanks, I figure it was the radiation that did it. Not sure why it took me as long to check into that as it did, but well..." He gave a little shrug.

"Oh..." Intelligent Tony, real intelligent response, he thought to himself, before putting a smile back on. "So what then, you need my help pulling some strings to get a cute kid from the South Pacific or something? I'm good at string pulling."

Pepper gave a small laugh despite herself. "We know you are, but no, it's nothing like that. Adoption's an option, but not the one we're exploring just yet, I'd still like the chance to be pregnant if we can manage it."

"So... Going the donor route then? Bruce, if you've used all your vacation time up and need some extra to attend clinic appointments with Pep or something, you two didn't need to bribe me with dinner to get a few extra days off. I'll sign whatever paperwork is needed for it."

"No, Tony, it's not that. We're trying not to have to go through a clinic, we don't exactly want to give just anyone a chance at getting a hold of Bruce's DNA. We were hoping for something a little more... private." When it didn't seem like Tony had quite caught her meaning, she sighed and looked at Bruce for help.

Apparently deciding there was no point in dancing around it further, Bruce got right to the heart of the matter. "Tony, we were hoping you'd be willing to be our donor. Now you don't have to answer right away, and we'll completely understand if you don't want to do it..."

"But neither of us could really picture having a stranger's help for something so important," Pepper continued, "and, well, you were the only one either of us thought of to trust with this."

After the start of this conversation, Tony had thought there was nothing left that could surprise him, he'd been wrong.

"You want..." Tony trailed off, his mind whirling with what they were asking. He needed to think this through before he said anything. They were asking him to do what he couldn't, what he hadn't been able to do at the start of it all... except they weren't. "So, just so that I have all this clear, you're asking me to donate, but Bruce is still going to be the kid's dad, and I'll still be Uncle Tony?" There was an odd tone to his voice, even in his own ears, but the question had to be asked.

Pepper nodded tentatively. "Yes, that was the idea. We know you don't want children of your own, you wouldn't be expected to bear that kind of responsibility. Of course you'll be welcome in their life as much as you want to be though, you're family after all."

"Fully knowing you plan to feed them full of sugar," Bruce added with his wry smile.

They were sincere, Tony could hear it in their words and see it in their faces. They really did count him as family, and he felt the knot that had wound itself up in his stomach suddenly release. It came to him in that moment why this whole evening had been such a shock from the beginning. He'd thought he was losing them again.

Children were a big responsibility, and he'd heard plenty of stories about how they'd eaten up a couple's life to the exclusion of all else. Part of him had thought that this was going to be a sort of drawn-out goodbye. They wouldn't mean to leave him behind as they started this new chapter in their lives, but it would happen because things like pediatrician's appointments and soccer matches would come first. Family would come first.

But that wasn't what was happening at all, they wanted him to be a part of this new chapter. Not just to help them have their baby, but to see him or her grow up, to be a part of that growing up. He had an open invitation into their lives. Not just because he was their friend, but because they were family.

It wasn't a traditional family, certainly, but when had he ever been traditional about anything? The important thing was that he knew then and there that he was as much family to them, as they were to him. So he'd give them the donation, and be there through it all, because he finally knew without a doubt that while life had its ups and downs, they'd be there for him as well.

Tony smiled at them, and there was no doubting its sincerity this time. They were family.


End file.
